False Imprisonment
Definition
the detention of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent
Elements
intent to confine a person within a certain area
Torts against the person
assault battery false imprisonment intentional infliction of emotional distress
Property torts
trespass to land trespass to chattels (personal property) conversion
Intent
Intent is most often proved through circumstantial evidence—the defendant’s conduct, in the context of his or her surroundings and what he or she presumably knew and perceived.
Battery
Definition
(at common law) an intentional act causing an unconsented harmful or offensive contact with a person
Criminal battery and tortious battery
against societal benefits
Intentional Torts
General
Definition
any intentional acts that are reasonably foreseeable to cause harm to an individual, and that do so
the conduct must cause the plaintiff to suffer severe emotional distress.
Examples
A defendant refused to inform a plaintiff of the whereabouts of the plaintiff's child for several years, though that defendant knew where the child was the entire time.
Criminal law recognizes degrees of crimes involving physical contact.
There is but a single tort of battery.
Battery
“Harmful" contact
contact that objectively intends to injure, disfigure, impair, or cause pain
General
Underlying policy considerations
maintenance of a peaceful society deterrence social responsibility the balancing of economic interests
As distinguished from battery, assault need not involve actual contact—it only needs intent and the resulting apprehension.
wielding a knife
Assault
“Offensive" contact
contact that would offend a person’s sense of personal dignity
Examples
spitting in someone's face
Battery
intentionally knocking a hat off someone's head or knocking a glass out of some-one's hand
Statute of Limitations
Function
The statute of limitations is a defense that is ordinarily asserted by the defendant to defeat an action brought against him after the appropriate time has elapsed.
Under the law, the individual causing the harm will be seen as having "intended" the act by means of the "transferred intent" doctrine.
General
Subcategories
IIED
A defendant sent a letter to a plaintiff falsely informing the person that a close family member had been killed in an accident.
Statute of Limitations
Assault
With the tort of assault, a perceived threat by the victim is paramount.
＊A defendant throws a rock at a sleeping victim.
He can only be guilty of the attempted battery assault, since the victim would not be aware of the possible harm.
Definition
an enactment that restricts the time within which legal proceedings may be initiated
Objective
designed to prevent claims from arising after all evidence has been lost or after the facts have become obscure through the passage of time, or the death or disappearance of witnesses
Application
The defendant must raise the defense before the court upon answering the plaintiff's complaint.
Statute of Limitations
If not, he is regarded as having waived the defense and will not be permitted to use it in any subsequent proceedings.
intentional conduct that results in extreme emotional distress
Elements
The defendant must act intentionally or recklessly;
IIED
the defendant's conduct must be extreme and outrageous; and
Tort Law
General
Байду номын сангаасDefinition
Tort law is the body of law that deals with civil wrongs, except those that arise from contract problems.
Purpose
to compensate an injured party through the award of damages for the injuries incurred during a tortious act
Assault
Definition
(in common law) an intentional act that creates an apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact
Assault and battery
The person falsely imprisoned may sue the offender for damages.
IIED
Definition
★short for intentional infliction of emotional distress
★referred to as the tort of outrage in some jurisdictions
General
Transferred intent
Transferred intent is a doctrine used in both criminal law and tort law when the intention to harm one individual inadvertently causes a second person to be hurt instead.